New Vet Hospital with Support from Bob Martin Vetcare Customers

The latest big change for Battersea is the opening of their new vet hospital at their Battersea site.

Since its founding in 1860, Battersea Dogs and Cats home has been through many exciting changes. These changes have helped make Battersea one of the UK’s oldest and most famous animal rescue centres; with three sites in and around London and the South East, Battersea, Brands Hatch and Windsor.

The latest big change for Battersea is the opening of their new vet hospital at their Battersea site, opening on Wednesday 7th September.

In order to make this happen, you, our fabulous and generous customers have been helping to raise funds for this project through our ‘round to the pound’ initiative. This initiative has enabled our customer to round their shopping baskets up to the nearest pound when purchasing online at Bobmartinvetcare.co.uk, and to date, more than 1200 of our customers have contributed to the building of this great new hospital!

So to celebrate its opening, we have gathered some facts about Battersea Dogs and Cats Home to show you just how much work goes into caring for the dogs and cats they welcome into their shelters.

Battersea Dogs and Cats Home: facts and figures

1. Battersea cares for over 8000 animals every year including 5000 dogs and over 3000 cats.

2. On average 13 dogs and 9 cats arrive at the three Battersea shelters every day.

3. 27% of dogs and 64% of cats arriving at Battersea in 2015 were strays.

4. The average stay for a dog is 30 days and 22 days for a cat; but there is no limit on how long an animal can stay with Battersea before finding a new home.

5. Battersea rehomed nearly 6000 animals last year.

6. The most common arrivals at their shelters were Staffordshire Bull Terriers and Mongrels, but they also took in 443 Jack Russell Terriers in 2015.

7. Just 39 dedicated and caring veterinary staff work across Battersea’s three shelters.

8. Last year Battersea performed 4,728 operations on the dogs and cats in its care.

9. This works out as on average 18 operations a day (Monday to Friday).

10. All dogs and cats at Battersea are neutered before they are rehomed. Last year they neutered 1,488 dogs and 1,570 cats.

Battersea Veterinary Hospital: facts and figures

11. Construction work began on the new Veterinary Hospital in early 2015.

12. The new Veterinary Hospital will have three top-spec operating theatres with 33% more space for performing over 100 operations a week.

13. For the first time they will have a dedicated dental suite to care for the 80% of animals that arrive at our shelters with problem teeth.

14. They treat on average 74 animals with dental problems every week.

15. There will be a dedicated laboratory suite for in-house tests and an imaging suite to speed up diagnosis and treatment.

16. Brand new sound-proofed recovery wards with separate space for dogs and cats and intensive care areas will transform the lives of the animals in their care.

17. A new specialised ventilation system with temperature control will mean Battersea are able to keep animals warm when they are under anaesthetic as they lack the ability to control their own body temperature.

18. There are 14,000 distinctive blue tiles on the outside of the building.